Burn
by Dawn-of-Destiny-87
Summary: Songfic What was goin' on with Kim when she wrote the infamous 'letter? ... and what happened after she wrote it? Please, please, please R&R!


Burn

By: Samantha Stanley

Disclaimer: Power Rangers belongs to Saban/Disney entertainment. The song "Burn" belongs to Usher. I don't own either one of them.

Pairing: Tommy/Kim

A/N: As always, PLEASE review! It's so important to me to know what you guys think… I worked really hard on this. Oh, and let me know if you want a part two! Thanks so much!!!

~*~*~*~

Groaning in frustration, Kimberly Hart crumpled up yet another piece of light pink paper and threw it to the ground. It landed in a pile of twenty others just like it. 

"Okay, Kimberly, pull yourself together." she reasoned with herself. "You've gotta do it; you've gotta end it. Tommy doesn't need to worry about you when he should be focusing on saving the earth; likewise, you don't need him to worry about when you should be focusing on the Olympics."

With a heavy sigh and a shaky hand, she picked up her black pen and began to write again…

_Dearest Tommy,_

Hey! How are things in Angel Grove? They're going pretty good down here. Coach Schmidt says I'm almost ready for the Olympics! Isn't that great? I'm so ready for it.

Tommy, I'm not gonna beat around the bush. We need to talk…

Kim felt hot tears fill the rims of her eyes as she thought of what she was going to say next. What could she say? She didn't want to end this relationship; Tommy was her life. She loved him more than anything, but… did that mean she loved him enough to let him go?

__

It's gonna burn for me to say this  
But it's comin from my heart  
It's been a long time coming  
But we been fell apart  
Really wanna work this out  
But I don't think you're gonna change  
I do but you don't  
Think it's best we go our separate ways  
Tell me why I should stay in this relationship  
When I'm hurting baby  
I ain't happy baby  
Plus there's so many other things I gotta deal with  
I think that you should let it burn  


"Okay, here we go." Kim sniffled, putting the pen back down to the paper and letting the lies flow freely.

I'm really sorry, but I've found someone else. 

'Someone else?' she thought. 'There is nobody else for me but Tommy.'

_He's really warm, kind, sweet, and caring. I know you'd love him. At first I thought we were just really good friends, but now it's obvious that we've become something much more. Please believe me when I say I never wanted anything like this to happen. I'll always love you, Tommy. Never, ever forget that._

All my love,

Kimberly Ann Hart

"Oh, Tommy," she cried, tears now gently streaming down her cheeks. "I'm sorry -- I'm so, so sorry."

__

When your feeling ain't the same and your body don't want to  
But you know gotta let it go cuz the party ain't jumpin' like it used to  
Even though this might bruise you  
Let it burn  
Let it burn  
Gotta let it burn  
  
Deep down you know it's best for yourself but you  
Hate the thought of her being with someone else  
But you know that it's over  
We know that it's through  
Let it burn  
Let it burn  
Gotta let it burn  


After at least an hour of sobbing freely into her hands and shouting out apologies to Tommy that would never be heard, she composed herself the best she could and neatly folded the letter.

"I love you, Sweetheart." she whispered and kissed the letter. "I love you so much."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, she got up from her seat and got ready for bed. Although going to bed at 7:30 was early -- even for her -- she knew that if she was late for practice in the morning, Coach Schmidt would work her even harder than he already was.

…. After a night filled with dreams of her haunting past, Kimberly awoke with a start to the sound of her alarm clock buzzing. 

"6:00... Time for practice." she yawned as she threw back the covers and climbed out of bed.

Once she was completely ready to go, she headed toward the door. However, she stopped right before her hand completely twisted the front door-knob.

"I almost forgot the letter."

She ran over to her desk and slowly lifted the letter to her lips.

"Good-bye, Tommy…"

Sealing the it in an envelope, she scribbled the addresses onto it and ran out the door. After dropping it off at the local post-office, she was back on her way to practice -- a feeling of dread and sickness growing inside her.

  
_Sendin' pages I ain't supposed to  
Got somebody here but I want you  
Cause the feelin ain't the same find myself  
Callin' her your name  
Ladies tell me do you understand?  
Now all my fellas do you feel my pain?  
It's the way I feel  
I know I made a mistake  
Now it's too late  
I know she ain't comin back  
What I gotta do now  
To get my shorty back  
Ooo ooo ooo ooooh  
Man I don't know what I'm gonna do  
Without my booo  
You've been gone for too long  
It's been fifty-leven days, um-teen hours  
Imma be burnin' till you return (let it burn)  
_

It was practice time again. Kim knew Coach Schmidt would push her hard today. Mainly because she was his star pupil and she, he felt, had the best chance of winning the gold medal for the United States. 

"Kimberly!" he greeted cheerfully as she trudged through the door. 

Coach Schmidt could be a rather pleasant person when he wasn't in a bad mood. Of course, that wasn't very often since he was almost always in a bad mood.

"Hey, Coach." Kim sighed with a fake smile.

"What's wrong? You don't seem too happy to see me." he joked as he patted her lightly on the shoulder.

"No, no, it's not like that. I'm just… not feeling very well." 

Just at that moment, she glanced out the window and saw the mailman's truck drive by -- heading in the direction of Angel Grove. For a split second she thought about running after him, stopping him, getting back her letter, and destroying it. 

"Hello! Earth to Kim!" said Coach Schmidt as he waved his hands in front of her face. 

"Huh? What?" she said, snapping back to reality.

"I said, go warm up. You sure you're okay?" 

"Yeah, I-I'm fine."

As she walked over to the mat, the pain in her stomach was almost bad enough to make her double over, but she ignored it and kept on going strong.

__

When your feeling ain't the same and your body don't want to  
But you know gotta let it go cuz the party ain't jumpin' like it used to  
Even though this might bruise you  
Let it burn  
Let it burn  
Gotta let it burn  
  
Deep down you know it's best for yourself but you  
Hate the thought of her being with someone else  
But you know that it's over  
We know that it's through  
Let it burn  
Let it burn  
Gotta let it burn  


"Hey, Kim! What's happenin' girl?" greeted her closest -- and only -- friend in Florida. 

"Hey, April. Not much." she said, trying desperately to make her voice sound as if nothing really was wrong.

"C'mon now, Kim. I know you well enough to know when you're lying, and right now… you are. So, fess up. What's goin' on?"

They both sat down on the mat and Kim started stretching as she admitted, "Well, you remember me telling you about Tommy Oliver, right?"

"Of course! You only gushed over him, like, everyday." April giggled.

"I, uh, I kinda broke up with him." 

"What?! How?! Why?!" she exclaimed. "From the way you talked about your relationship with him, it sounded like you guys were soul mates!"

"I know, I know. I was thinking about him last night and decided he had enough problems at hand and he didn't need to worry about me all the time. Besides, Coach Schmidt said 'no distractions', right? I need my attention focused completely on winning."

"Kimmie, Coach Schmidt would tell you that he was the Queen of England to get that stupid gold medal."

"How can you possibly call the gold medal stupid?" Kim cried. "That's the ultimate prize! That's what we're all working our butts off for!"

"Oh my gosh…" sighed April.

"What?" asked Kim, totally clueless.

"Coach Schmidt, being the jerk he is, made you lose sight of what is really important… Kim, answer me this: Why did you come to Florida?"

"To win the gold medal for the United States."

"Wrong."

"Because… Coach asked me to?"

"Wrong again, Kim. You came here for the same reason I did -- and it's not for that damn medal. It's because you love gymnastics."

Kim sighed, obviously deep in thought. Had she really lost sight of what was important?

"I-I guess you're right." Kim said in a doubtful tone.

"Coach Asshole even talked you into breaking up with the love of your life. Think about it, Kimmie." April advised before getting up and heading over toward the bars.

Upon hearing those words, Kimberly's pain tripled. Right now she felt as if she was gonna die. In fact -- she wanted to. 

__

I'm twisted cuz one side of me is tellin' me that I need to move on  
On the other side I wanna break down and cry (ooooh)  
I'm twisted cuz one side of me is tellin' me that I need to move on  
On the other side I wanna break down and cry (yeah)  
  
Ooh ooh ooh ooh ooh oooh  
Ooh ooh oooh (can ya feel me burnin'?)  
Ooh ooh ooh oooh ooh oooh  
  
So many days, so many hours  
I'm still burnin' till you return  


"Kimberly!" yelled Coach Schmidt. 

His mood had just gone down to a zero-tolerance level because one of his new pupils absolutely could not get the balance beam routine right. 

"Yeah, Coach?" she called while still doing her stretches.

"Get over here for a minute."

Squinting her eyes and secretly clutching her stomach, she got up and walked over to them. The girl had short blonde hair, piercing green eyes, and a small, slender body. Her leotard was a light shade of blue. All in all she looked as if she was about fifteen or sixteen.

"What is it?" Kim asked, gazing into the scared eyes of the young girl who cowered slightly away from Coach Schmidt.

"Show Vanessa," he began, grabbing the girl roughly by the arm. "how to do the balance beam routine correctly."

"Which routine?"

"The one that you did in the regional competition last semester." 

Nodding her head, she forced all thoughts of pain out of her mind and climbed onto the balance beam. _'Peace of cake,'_ she thought. Suddenly, about half-way through, she felt a wave of dizziness sweep over her. Losing her footing, she saw the ground rushing up to meet her. Then, her stomach plummeted onto the hard surface of the balance beam.

"Oh my God!" screamed April, who had been secretly watching her while doing her bar routine. "Kimberly!"

Kim all of a sudden felt the wave of pain from before come back and combine with the new pain that had just been brought upon her. Crying audibly and taking in short, shallow breaths, she slid off the balance beam and fell to the floor. 

"Kimberly, are you okay?" came the concerned voice of Coach Schmidt. 

She could say nothing -- only cry. 

"Go call an ambulance, Vanessa." said April as she rushed over to Kim and Coach Schmidt. 

Everyone now gathered in a crowd around her, but the Coach wasn't about to let them miss practice just because one of his best gymnasts was hurt and writhing on the floor in pain.

"Everyone!" he shouted. "get back to work!"

Seeing that no one budged, he screamed out using a forceful and angry tone.

"NOW!"

This time, they quickly left the scene. All were hoping Kim would be okay.

"They said they're on their way." came the worried voice of Vanessa from the phone booth in the corner of the gym.

"Kim," said April. "C'mon, Kim, don't do this. Speak to me. Please, say something -- anything."

"Tommy." was all she managed to get out with a weak tone. "Tommy."

"Stay with us, Kim. The paramedics are on their way." said Coach Schmidt firmly.

"I'm sorry, Tommy…so, so sorry… sorry… " she whispered until her world faded and darkness blurred her vision.

When your feeling ain't the same and your body don't want to  
But you know gotta let it go cuz the party ain't jumpin' like it used to  
Even though this might bruise you  
Let it burn  
Let it burn  
Gotta let it burn  
  
Deep down you know it's best for yourself but you  
Hate the thought of her being with someone else  
But you know that it's over  
We know that it's through  
Let it burn  
Let it burn  
Gotta let it burn


End file.
